026 Buying a Car

Compared with travel industry peers like China CYTS Tours and BTG Hotels Group, Yanjing Tourism was a smaller player. However, in late June 2008, it suddenly took off, surging from around 12 yuan to a peak of 30 yuan in just 30 trading days—a gain of nearly 150%—earning it a spot as one of the ten most volatile "demon stocks" of 2008.

Any abnormal stock movement is driven by a speculative theme, and for Yanjing Tourism, that theme was the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

Just as investors were rejoicing, the speculation came to an abrupt end. It was followed by a sharp plunge from its highs, hitting dozens of consecutive daily limit-downs and trapping a massive number of investors.

Currently, Yanjing Tourism remains obscure. Its stock price hovers around 11 yuan with thin trading volume, making it incomparable to China CYTS Tours or BTG Hotels Group.

I never expected the "Dongguan Girl" to have noticed it too!

"Why?" Fang Qingye asked intentionally.

"According to my mathematical model, the market makers are quietly accumulating shares, but they haven't gathered enough yet. It will take some time before they push the price up. I'll let you know when the time comes," she quickly typed back.

"Strange," Fang Qingye typed.

"What's strange?"

"You said in the group earlier that you don't trade stocks, so why are you so interested? Is this just some kind of simulated trading game for fun?"

"Of course not. I collaborate with the research center of the Investment Banking Department at the headquarters of Oriental Bank, so naturally, I have to pay attention to the stock market," the Dongguan Girl typed.

Just for that reason?

Fang Qingye remained somewhat skeptical and asked, "Are you not planning to make a fortune in the stock market yourself?"

"What's the point of playing with stocks? If you play with futures in the future, I'll join you."

She’s quite bold, isn't she?

Futures were definitely something to get into, but not now. He lacked the capital. Without tens or hundreds of millions, what was the point? Of course, Fang Qingye kept that to himself.

"Honey, are you short on money? Then you must work hard to earn it and come marry me one day. You need to be a legendary hero like the Monkey King, draped in golden armor and riding on a cloud of seven colors..." she typed another string of text.

Her "chunibyo" (middle-school syndrome) was acting up again.

Fang Qingye decisively logged off.

The next day after work, Fang Qingye opened his computer and sold all his Longping High-Tech shares at 40 yuan each. After deducting stamp duty and commissions, his total proceeds came to 1,108,664 yuan.

Not bad.

Of course, he had to repay the 200,000 yuan principal to Song Dahai. Fang Qingye immediately called Song to discuss the repayment, but the other party flatly refused.

"You don't need to pay back the 200,000."

"You're generous, but as the saying goes, 'Even brothers must settle accounts clearly.' I can't do that," Fang Qingye said.

"Yezi, if you pay me back, you're cutting off my source of income," Song Dahai replied, his tone full of frustration.

"What do you mean?" Fang Qingye was confused.

"The day before yesterday, while we were eating at home, I let it slip that you borrowed 200,000 from me to trade stocks. My dad heard it and immediately said you didn't need to pay it back. He told me that if I dared to take that money, I wouldn't get another cent from the family! So you see, you'd be ruining my financial lifeline... Please, just don't pay me back, okay?"

What the hell...

Fang Qingye didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if this story was made up by Song Dahai, but it was clear that the Song family was using this method to express their gratitude.

"Alright then..." Fang Qingye agreed, "I'll keep it for now."

"Not for now, keep it forever..."

After a brief chat, Fang Qingye hung up.

Now that he had over a million yuan, he wanted to buy a car. Although his commute was short enough for a scooter, it was inconvenient for long trips or when it rained. Plus, there was fishing! With a car, he could travel further without worrying about the weather.

However, buying a car was a big deal; he had to inform his parents.

Around nine that evening, his father, Fang Jianwen, returned from a social gathering and was sitting in the living room sipping tea when Fang Qingye brought it up. His father agreed readily.

"Go ahead and buy it. Many families in the city have cars now; it’s convenient for getting things done. I actually wanted one myself, but I don't have a driver's license and don't have the time to go to driving school... I'll give you 150,000, is that enough?"

"Dad, I don't need your money. I have my own; I'm just letting you know," Fang Qingye laughed.

"You have your own money? You've only been working for a few days! Where did you get over a hundred thousand? You didn't embezzle company funds, did you?!" His father's tone turned stern.

"Dad, why do you always suspect me of doing something bad?! I'm just an intern, do I have that kind of capability?!" Fang Qingye retorted impatiently. "I made some money from the stock market."

The stock market?!

His mother, Zhang Meili, who was eating sunflower seeds and watching TV, turned to look at him.

"Yes, the stock market." Fang Qingye gave a simplified explanation of borrowing money to trade. He left out the part about the modeling and dared not mention the 900,000-yuan profit, saying only that he had around 200,000.

"Xiao Ye, you are so daring. What if you had lost Dahai's 200,000?! Stop right there, don't ever trade stocks again!" his father said solemnly.

Sigh...

Hearing his father's reprimand, Fang Qingye sighed internally. His father was just an overly cautious man.

His mother didn't scold him but asked with interest, "Xiao Ye, you actually made that much money? I couldn't tell! Tell me, is the stock market going to surge soon? Can I break even on the funds I bought?"

Compared to his father's cautious nature, his mother was much bolder. During the massive bull market of 2005-2007, she had jumped in and spent over 200,000 on funds. Unfortunately, she was a bit greedy and didn't redeem them in time; now, not only had she failed to make a profit, but she had also lost half her principal, a fact that had been weighing on her mind ever since.

Hearing her question, Fang Qingye smiled and said, "Mom, it's a bear market now. It will take a few years for the stock market to surge again. But don't worry, you will definitely break even. Just treat it like a fixed-term bank deposit."

"Oh..." his mother sounded disappointed, but her attention was quickly drawn back to the TV, and she stopped bothering the two men.

"Xiao Ye," his father spoke up again, "How about this? I'll give you 100,000. We still need to save up to buy you a house. You should keep some of your money saved up; you'll need it for dating in the future. Young people dating now isn't like it was for your mother and me, where just walking through the park or strolling down the street was enough."

"Your father wouldn't even spend two dimes on a movie ticket back then," his mother chimed in suddenly. Her husband looked embarrassed and defended himself, "You said you didn't like watching movies."

"Tell me, which girl in that era didn't like movies? I was just trying to save you money!"

...

...

"Alright, Mom and Dad, you two can reminisce about the past. I'm going back to my room," Fang Qingye quickly slipped away.

His parents were always like this, bickering over past events and dragging him in as a referee. How could he possibly tell who was right and who was wrong? Once he left, they lost their audience and the bickering died down. Sure enough, the living room soon went quiet, save for the sound of the TV.

Although his father offered 100,000, Fang Qingye only planned to spend about 200,000 on a car for daily commuting. He opened his computer to search online and, after a long time, decided that a Buick Regal was a good fit.

The 2.0L Elite version was 199,900 yuan, and he expected there would be a discount.

That was the one! He would go to the dealership tomorrow to take a look.